Hurricane Higgins blew me away when I was a kid on Mull. And the rest is history
Musician reveals phone call with snooker legend
Musician Colin MacIntyre isn’t easily star-struck.
But as he scrolls through the contacts listed in his phone, the sight of snooker legend Alex Higgins’s number still sends shivers down his spine.
The Mul l Historical Society frontman, who has toured with bands including REM, Elbow and The Strokes, is the brother of Radio Scotland’s Sportsound presenter Kenny Macintyre.
And if the two brothers’ own list of famous friends and career contacts wasn’t impressive enough, their late father – also called Kenny – was a BBC political correspondent who crossed paths with the likes of Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair, Donald Dewar and Gordon Brown.
But singer Colin, 47, revealed it is the number of his childhood sporting hero Alex “Hurricane” Higgins that he will never delete from his phone – even though the star died eight years ago.
Colin, who has just written a memoir paying tribute to the people who inspired him most in life, said: “Growing up, there were a lot of amazing people who influenced me – and Higgins, my favourite sportsman of al l t ime, was definitely one of them. He had so much charisma.
“When I released my first single, it did very well. I decided that for my second single I would like to have a photo of Hurricane Higgins on the cover.
“I’d had his poster on my ceiling as a boy.
“I’d watched him win the 1982 World Snooker Ch a m p i o n s h i p s against all the odds, and in a cloud of cigarette smoke and a gust of vodka and orange.
“As the crowd roared, he repeatedly beckoned his wife and baby daughter to join him at the table.
“He was crying, and anyone who has seen the photo taken at the time will know it was a powerful sporting moment and a very human one.”
Colin revealed: “My record label managed to get hold of his number and I remember calling him up, telling him I was a huge fan and asking for his permission to use the picture.
“When he answered the phone, he was in a bookies – and while he was perfectly civil, I could hardly hear him. He asked me to call him back in 10 minutes, by which time he had found a quiet pub.
“He told me, ‘Mr MacIntyre, that is a very important photograph’, then he went on to ask me for £ 2000 – which was more money than the entire recording and video had cost.
“The value of the photo kept going up the longer we spoke, and in the end I had to admit defeat.
“He died a few years later and I can’t bring myself to delete his number, even though he’s gone.”
Colin, who grew up on the Isle of Mull, has won awards in twin careers as a musician and as a novelist.
His first single, Barcode Bypass, was named by music magazine NME as their debut single of the year in 2000. He has released eight albums, achieved four Top 40 singles and performed live on BBC Radio 1, Radio 2, Later with Jools Holland and The Jonathan Ross Show.
In 2015, his debut novel, The Letters of Ivor Punch, won the Edinburgh International Book Festival’s First Book Award.
Now he has written a memoir, The Boy In The Bubble, as part of publishers Weidenfeld and Nicolson’s Hometown Tales series of books celebrating regional talent.
He hopes his story about growing up in Tobermory, and the characters who helped shape both his music and writing careers, will inspire other young Scots to achieve their dreams.
Col in, who star ted using a different spelling of his surname while at school, said: “There were many writers and poets in my family, including my grandfather and my uncle Lorn Macintyre.
“I don’t know if having that tradition, or even my dad’s career, made it easier to believe that whatever you put your mind to could be possible. But I know I have been lucky too.”
Dad- of- two Col in, who is
preparing for a Mull Historical Society autumn tour, bel ieves growing up on the island has had a huge influence on his career.
He said: “Writing this memoir helped me real ly see how the threads of home go across everything I do.
“I can see now how much the language of the characters from my childhood have influenced all the songs I have written, and are in my books too.”